Easel box



March 22, 1938. E. J. BONVILLE EASEL BOX Filed Nov. 6, 1936 ATTORNEY 5 Patented Mar. 22, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EASEL BOX Application November 6, 1936, Serial No. 109,440

4 Claims.

This invention relates to display cartons, and more particularly to folding easels therefor.

It is an object of the invention to provide a folding easel so constructed that when released from folded position it will automatically spring into open or operative position.

The easel of the present invention is designed especially for use in association with the folding top of a display carton and is intended to be secured to the inside of the top and to be compressed into folded position between the top of the carton and the goods packed in the carton.

It is desirable that such an easel spring auto matically into open or set-up position as soon as the top of the carton is lifted sufiiciently to permit this action, but it has been found that various types of easel, although functioning reasonably well at first, lose the ability to function satisfactorily in the foregoing respect when the carton 30 remains in packed position over a relatively long period of time. The difiiculty in such case is that any parts of the easel which had sufficient inherent resiliency at first lose this characteristic gradually during a long compression in folded position.

- It is accordingly another object of the invention to provide a self-erecting easel whose ability to spring automatically into open or operative position is not destroyed even after many months of compression into'relatively flat or shipping position.

The invention resides in the construction of the parts and in certain relations between the dimensions of the parts, as hereinafter described.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a display carton having a hinged, folding, box-tilting top to the inside of which the self-erecting easel is attached;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the box top folded back and forming a base for the carton in its tilted display position, with the self erecting easel in open or operative position;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the form blank comprising the easel;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the carton of Figure 1 with the upper half shown in longitudinal section to illustrate the packed or folded position of the easel when the carton is closed;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4, the section being on line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a vertical longitudinal sectional View, on an enlarged scale, showing the easel itself and a portion of the carton top to which it is attached; and

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6, but showing the "easel parts in relatively fiat, folded or shipping position.

Referring in detail to the accompanying drawing, the carton H has a top [3 comprising a forward'or carton supporting section l5 separated by a fold line Hi from the rear top section l1. The section I! is provided with slots 9 for convenient attachment of the self-erecting easel, whose tabs 20, hereinafter referred to, are inserted through the slots l9. Hinged to the rear end of the top is a connecting section 22 whose lower edge is hingedly attached to the carton bottom along fold line 23. As illustrated in Figure 2, the top may be lifted and swung completely around the fold line 23 to display position with the top section l5 folded along fold line l6 into a position under one end of the carton to provide a tilting base for it in display position.

Referring to Figure 3, the blank from which the self-erecting easel is made comprises an attaching portion 26 having the tabs 20 extending laterally therefrom, the attaching portion 26 being hingedly connected by a fold line 21 with an easel back 29, along whose side edges extend inwardly folding bracing tabs 3| which are hingedly connected to the easel back 29 along fold lines 32.

Joined to the easel back 29, in hinged relation t Referring to Figures 2, 6 and '7, it will be noted that the fold line 38 constitutes thedividing line separating the two bottom sections from each other; that the fold line 34 constitutes the other outer edge of the outer bottom section 36; and

that the fold line 40 constitutes the outer edge compressed part assume a curved condition, al-

though such part normally has a plane surface.

For this purpose, as illustrated in the embodiment of the drawing, the substantially median fold line 38 does not divide the easel bottom into two sections of exactly equal width but is slightly to one side of the actual bottom center line. This feature alone, however, would be insufficient to cause the desired compression if the difference in width between the bottom sections 36 and 31 were compensated for by an equal difference between the attaching portion and the easel back. That is to say, if the height of the easel back 29, measured from fold line 2! to fold line 34, is greater than the height of the attaching portion, measured from fold line 21 to its left free edge (or, when assembled, measured to fold line 40), by an amount exactly equal to the difference in width between the two bottom sections 36 and.3l', there will be no edge-toWard-edge compression, for the difference in the bottom sections will be compensated for by the other parts. But where, as contemplated by the invention, the bottom sections are divided unequally and (see Figure 6) the height of the attaching portion 26, measured from fold line 21 to fold line 40, is the same or substantially the same as the height of the easel back 29, measured from fold line 2'! to fold line 34, the fold lines 3 3 and M) will come substantially together, as shown in Figure '7, and the "1: easel back 29 will therefore necessarily assume a slightly curved position and the outer easel bottom section 36 will be compressed between fold lines 34 and 38 and will thus be obliged to assume a slightly curved position, as illustrated in Figure '7.

The offsetting of the fold line 38 from the actual center line of the easel bottom has been somewhat exaggerated in the drawing to illustrate the principie involved, thoughit will be understood that in practice the oifsetting is relatively slight. It is impossible to define the offsetting mathematically since the amount of offsetting depends upon the kind of material of which the easel is made, the thickness of the material, and the size of the easel. The offsetting must not be too great to prevent theparts from assuming the substantially fiat folded po-- sition of Figures 4, 5,'and '7, nor too little to prevent the advantages of the invention from being realized by causing a slight curvature from edge to edge of one of the folding parts. In stating that the easel in the shipping position of the parts is folded substantially flat, it is meant that the easel folds sufficiently flat to permit the top to close adequately over the contents of the carton in the packed shipping position.

The advantages of the invention are more fully realized where the easel bottom folds inwardly of the easel, as shown in Figures i and '7; and the bracing tabs 3| are also preferably folded inwardly so that their lower portions lie between the easel back 29 and the outer easel bottom section 36, and bear upon the outer section 36 with a tendency to cause the easel to open into operative position.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that the easel is attached to the inside of the carton top by inserting the attaching portion tabs 23 through the slots IQ of the top, as indicated in Figures 1 and 2.

What I claim is:

1. A self setting folding easel including an attaching portion, a back, and a'folding bottom connecting said attaching portion and back, said folding bottom comprising a pair of connected sections separated by a substantially median fold line, the outer edge of the inner section joining the attaching portion, the outer edge of the outer section joining said back, the easel being foldable to bring said edges substantially together, said median fold line being slightly displaced from the bottom center and being farther from the outer edge of the outer section than from the outer edge of the inner section.

2. A self setting folding easel including an attaching portion, a back joined at its top to the attaching portion and a folding bottom connecting said attaching portion and back, said folding bottom comprising a pair of connected sections separated by an off-center fold line, the outer edge of the inner section joining the attaching portion, the outer edge of the outer section joining said back, the difference between the distance from the outer edge of the outer bottom section to said fold line and the outer edge of the inner bottom section to said fold line being slightly greater than the difference between the height of the easel back measured along its length to the bottom and the height of the attaching portion measured along its length to the bottom.

3. A display carton having a foldable hinged cover having an easel carrying portion and an adjacent base forming portion for tilting the carton in display position and a self setting easel attached to the inside of said cover on said easel carrying portion and foldable into substantially fiat position, said easel including an attaching portion associated with said cover, a back hinged to said attaching portion, and a folding bottom connecting said attaching portion and back, said folding bottom comprising a pair of connected sections separated by an off-center fold line, the outer edge of the inner section joining the attaching portion, the outer edge of the outer section joining said back, the difference between the distance from the outer edge of the outer bottom section to said fold line and the distance of the outer edge of the inner bottom section to said fold line being slightly greater than the dif ference between the distance of the top ofthe easel back from the outer edge of the outer bottom section and the distance of the top of the easel back from the outer edge of the inner bottom section. W

4. A display carton having a foldable hinged cover having an easel carrying portion and an adjacent base forming portion for tilting the carton in display position and a self setting easel attached to the inside of said cover on said easel carrying portion and foldable into substantially fiat position, said easel including an attaching portion associated with said cover, a back hinged to said attaching portion, and a folding bottom connecting said attaching portion and back, said folding bottom comprising a pair of connected 8 sections separated by an off-center fold line, the outer edge of the inner section joining the attaching portion, the outer edge of the outer section joining said back, the difference between the distance from the outer edge of the outer bottom section to said fold line and the distance of the outer edge of the inner bottom section to said fold line being slightly greater than the difference between the distance of the top of the easel back from the outer edge of the outer bottom section and the distance of the top of the easel back from the outer edge 'of the inner bottom section, said easel back having bracing tabs foldable within the easel and thrusting said easel toward open position.

EDWARD J. BONVILLE. 

